''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Based on three short stories Miller contributed to the science fiction magazine ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction''; it is the only novel published by the author during his lifetime. Considered one of the classics of science fiction, it has never been out of print and has seen over 25 reprints and editions. Appealing to mainstream and genre critics and readers alike, it won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel.

Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the Southwestern United States after [[AfterTheEnd a devastating nuclear war]], the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it. The novel has three parts in different time periods and shows how the monastery and the world change over time.

Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Creator/EvelynWaugh, Creator/GrahamGreene, and Creator/WalkerPercy, and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. Miller's follow-up work, ''Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman'', was published posthumously in 1997.----!!Examples:* AerithAndBob: Gradually occurs over the centuries, thanks to changes in language and culture.* AfterTheEnd: All the way up to [[spoiler: the second end.]]* AgeWithoutYouth: The recurring Jew appears to grow older but never dies, a fact which perplexes the other characters.* AlternateHistory: A honorary one at least. The Deluge was said to have taken place around the late 1960s, with hints of somewhat more advanced technology than the real one. It can also be presumed that Vatican II was never issued in that timeline.* AltumVidetur: As the ''lingua franca'' of the Church, Latin is used all over the place in the books, sometimes translated, sometimes not.* AmbiguouslyJewish: It's never outright stated that Isaac Leibowitz was Jewish, though it's heavily implied.* AndManGrewProud: A common theme is that as society develops high technology and becomes able to build weapons of fantastic power, it loses touch with its spiritual and ethical side.* AnyoneCanDie: And they do.* ApocalypseAnarchy: The chaos in the wake of the Flame Deluge and the Simplification that followed all but guaranteed the near-total collapse of civilization. It would be well over a thousand years before mankind surpasses the pre-Deluge world [[spoiler:only to nearly destroy itself ''again''.]]* ApocalypseHow: Class 1, edging towards Class 2, [[FutureImperfect the nuclear war being referred to as]] [[{{Homage}} "The Flame Deluge"]]. [[spoiler:The end implies that the result of the ''second'' nuclear war was a Class 3... on Earth, anyway]].* ApocalypticLog: The papers Brother Francis finds in the fallout shelter.* BadassPreacher: It's implied the monks, despite being [[MartialPacifist generally non-violent, have defended the abbey with arms]] multiple times in its history.* BarbarianTribe: Most prominently in the tribal peoples of "Fiat Homo" and the Plains Nomads of "Fiat Lux".* BlackComedy: Evident throughout the novel, showing the folly of mankind's existence in contrast to the monks' mission.** The Catholic Church itself is also given this treatment in the novel, whether it's the endless theological disputes or the irony of the "Pope's Children." In addition, each part ends with the events being viewed from the perspective of buzzards [[spoiler:though the end has them replaced with a lucky shark]].* TheBible: As the novel has religious overtones, there are plenty of Biblical references. For instance:** The parts titled "Fiat Homo" and "Fiat Lux", which both come from the Creation account in Genesis; and "Fiat Voluntas Tua", which is a line in the Lord's Prayer.** The account of the Flame Deluge recounted in "Fiat Lux", which is explicitly stated to have been written by someone with a penchant for Scriptural mimicry. The beginning of the story hearkens back to the Book of Job and the Flood narrative in Genesis; the conversation between God and the leader after the nuclear war is reminiscent of God's conversation with Cain after Abel's murder.* BilingualBonus: With Latin and even a little Hebrew.** Also the bits of German used in the intro of "Fiat Voluntas Tua".* BittersweetEnding: The story chronicles the [[spoiler: second]] rise and fall of civilization, including TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. But this time, [[SaintlyChurch the Church has learned from the past]] and arranged for [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture a starship to be sent out to the Centaurus colony]].** "Fiat Homo" likewises ends with a bittersweet note. Francis successfully gives Leibowitz's relics to the Pope, thus leading to the man's canonization [[spoiler:only to be killed by the "Pope's Children" later on]].* CallBack: When the abbot finds [[spoiler: Francis' skull]] at the very end of the book.* CaptainErsatz: The Green Star is very clearly UsefulNotes/TheRedCross.* CargoCult: It's mentioned in ''Fiat Homo'' that the more primitive tribals are fond of using relics like broken transitors and radio parts as spiritual items, some occassionally dying from ingesting them. Though even the Catholic Church, via the abbey, indulges in this a bit given how the Memorabilia are treated as nigh sacroscant.* TheChessmaster: Hannegan, who is also quite the MagnificentBastard. * ChurchMilitant: Abbot Zerchi, which leads him to a HeelRealization after attempting to stop a victim of radiation poisoning and her infant daughter from euthanasia.* ConvenientlyPreciseTranslation: Averted; Francis has quite a bit of difficulty translating the [[TechnoBabble technical jargon]] he finds in the fallout shelter. Later, a [[UniversalTranslator machine translator]] is invented which (like its RealLife counterparts) is [[MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels somewhat less than reliable.]]* CorruptChurch: What the Catholic Church is blatantly portrayed as in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman.'' [[BlackAndGreyMorality It's still to be rooted for over]] TheEmpire, in part because it's not so much a conventional CorruptChurch as it is an exceptionally complex and institutionalized DysfunctionJunction. The [[OnlySaneMan only sane one]] is Cardinal Silentia.* CrapsackWorld: Although many characters [[TheAntiNihilist choose to interpret it]] as AWorldHalfFull.* DaysOfFuturePast: The cyclical nature of history is a major theme of the book, with "Fiat Homo" modeled after the Middle Ages, and "Fiat Lux" closely resembling the Renaissance. Likewise, the Texarkana Schism bears more than a passing resemblance to UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's English Reformation. And that's not counting the Manifest Destiny in ''St. Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman,'' or the UsefulNotes/ColdWar analogy in "Fiat Voluntas Tua."* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the idea common in more secularly-oriented science fiction that technological progress necessarily implies social progress. ''Canticle'' makes the point that no matter how advanced the technology gets, the human heart is inclined to a certain moral laziness that needs to be carefully and consciously guarded against if people aspire to be anything more than barbarians with fancy toys.* DistantFinale: 1,200 years after "Fiat Homo".* DividedStatesOfAmerica: By the time of "Fiat Lux", where America used to be consists of several city-state "empires" which don't even speak the same language.* {{Eagleland}}: The series is set entirely within the American landmass. The papacy has its seat in the vicinity of where UsefulNotes/StLouis used to be, and retreats to UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} after the Texarkanan Schism.* [[SocietyMarchesOn Ecclesiology Marches On]]: The novel was published just three years before Vatican II de-emphasized the use of Latin within the Church. And the texts for a votive Mass for Pilgrims and Travelers, movingly said [[spoiler:before the rocket launches]], have not migrated to the current liturgical books.* TheEmpire: Texark.* EternalEnglish: Averted. "Modern" English is very much a dead language in the future, and must be studied like one. It's implied that, much like Latin after the fall of the Roman Empire, [[LanguageDrift different dialects of English grew and evolved into full-blown, mutually unintelligible languages.]]* EvilLuddite: The Simplification was the backlash of a group of self-proclaimed "[[DumbIsGood simpletons]]" against scientists and other intellectuals, whom they blamed for the Flame Deluge. Leibowitz himself was one of their victims. First the politicians, then scientists, teachers, students, and finally people who can read. * FantasticCatholicism* FantasticReligiousWeirdness: The story essentially chronicles how the Catholic Church manages to survive (and, in so doing, help ensure the survival of humanity) after an apocalyptic nuclear war knocks human progress back a thousand years or so. Some issues, such as whether or not [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman mutants have proper souls and thus can be regarded as fully human]], are mentioned in passing.* FantasyCounterpartCulture: As noted, post-apocalyptic America is essentially medieval Europe, with a Dark Age, a Renaissance and modernity, and the appropriate conflicts between science and faith. By the end of the book, the two poles of the international system are loosely based on the Cold War. [[spoiler:And then the Flame Deluge repeats -- with one key difference]].* FlingALightIntoTheFuture: ** After the Flame Deluge, the entire purpose of the monks' work is to preserve a fragment of human knowledge for future generations who will be able to understand it better.** After civilization rises again, [[spoiler:and falls again,]] the church survives by sending off a mission ship to one of the offworld colonies.* FlyingDutchman: The Wandering Jew. Maybe.* FeudalFuture: Justified, seeing that an Age of Simplification leads to a new dark age.* FutureImperfect: So much. Often PlayedForLaughs though, especially when the Church relocates the Prime Meridian in order to liberate it from the influence of the "Green Witch".** One of the monks in "Fiat Lux" suggests that the Pre-Deluge Church may have used arc lamps on their altars instead of candles. The Abbot is not pleased.** Brother Francis plays an important role in getting Leibowitz canonized. Centuries later, one monk doesn't even remember who he is.** Thon Taddeo is described as a brilliant genius comparable to UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein. But by the time of ''Fiat Voluntas Tua,'' even the monks have trouble recalling his name.** The circumstances behind the Flame Deluge and its immediate aftermath, such as who the US President was at the time or who fired first, are hotly contested. Yet ''every'' monk seems to take for granted that Leibowitz's wife had a gold tooth.** The narration regarding the Simpletons and the last days of the pre-Deluge world reads like a liturgical sermon that would be more fitting for Martin Luther's time than Martin Luther King's. Hilariously enough, the Simpletons' rallying cry, which managed to survive intact down the generations, sounds much more like what working-class Americans would say.* TheGadfly: The Poet in ''Fiat Lux''. He manages to get a number of unpleasant topics out in the open that would be difficult for the monks to broach on their own.* GadgeteerGenius: Brother Kornhoer, who builds the first working electrical generator.* GainaxEnding: The Second Coming of Christ (or the return of the Virgin Mary) is [[spoiler: a tomato saleswoman's green-eyed radiation-eating conjoined fetus head, at least if the priest thinking this hasn't just gone insane.]]* HereWeGoAgain / HistoryRepeats / [[spoiler:EternalRecurrence]] : One of the main themes of the novel is the cyclical nature of human history.* HopeSpot: The ''Quo Peregrinatur'' starship.* IdiotHero: Brother Francis Gerard, who is quite the WideEyedIdealist.* ImAHumanitarian: Some of the mutants practice cannibalism.* InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves: Why humanity develops nuclear weapons and [[spoiler:destroys civilization a second time.]]* IstanbulNotConstantinople: Texark and the Misery (Missouri) River.** The town near the abbey has its name corrupted to "Sanly Bowitts".** The city known today as Amarillo (Texas) is shown on maps in the sequel as "Yellow". ("Amarillo" is Spanish for "yellow".)* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: The Simplification in a nutshell, which quickly lost any sense of control or order.* JustBeforeTheEnd: The third part of the book.* JustifiedTitle: Lebowitz is canonized over the course of the course of the work, so it makes sense. As a bit of a GeniusBonus, it's designed to grab the prospective reader's attention be wondering why a Canticle (A Christian song) is being sung for Leibowitz (A commonly Jewish last name).* KillSat: The Asian space platforms that destroy Texarkana [[spoiler:and the abbey]] in the end.* KnightTemplar: All three of the abbots in their own way.* LiteralMetaphor: The Old Jew in Dom Paulo's time claims to be several thousand years old, but it's established that, as the Diaspora is even more thinly scattered than ever, he may be the only Jew for hundreds of miles, and copes by seeing himself as the embodiment of all Jewish history. Whether he is ''also'' the immortal Wandering Jew is ambiguous.* LostTechnology: Electricity and computers are unknown to the monks. Humanity at large does figure out how to build them for themselves later in the story. At which point the monks' goal has shifted from protecting the Memorabilia to protecting ''all'' knowledge.* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: ** Benjamin may feature as the immortal WanderingJew. Or maybe not. The story is vague about whether [[spoiler: Zerchi is [[UnreliableNarrator imagining the whole thing]] [[DyingDream because he's dying.]]]]** The fate of Rachel and the strangeness of the Poet and also count.* MeaningfulName: ** Many of the place names in the stories vaguely refer to places that readers might know; some, like UsefulNotes/{{Denver}} and Chihuahua, survive remarkably intact.** The Memorabilia that Leibowitz first started and continued by the abbey's monks over the centuries is for all intents and purposes the collected ''memory'' of the old world.* MercyKill: What the medics authorize for radiation victims. The monks, especially Abbot Zerchi, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything protest against them vociferously with signs.]]* {{Mutants}}** In many different flavors, from simply having patches of skin in various shades to a full-on MultipleHeadCase.** Known as 'The Pope's Children' after the Pope issues an edict that they are not to be harmed. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for Brother Francis, they didn't return the favor.]]* MysteriousWatcher: The Old Jew, who lives on a mesa and watches over the abbey.* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: The Poet who lives at the abbey is only referred to by his occupation, or disparagingly as the Poet-sirrah. Even after he [[spoiler: becomes a folk saint]], he's only ever called Poet.* OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions: What the secularists want to believe, despite consistent evidence that the monks are actually closer-to-earth.** Curiously, it's implied that in general, people were no more religious than they were before the Deluge.** It's even lampshaded during the debate with Thon Taddeo that it never ''was'' any better at all. Just richer or poorer.* PatchworkStory: The book started out as three short stories, "A Canticle for Leibowitz", "And the Light Is Risen", and "The Last Canticle".* PatronSaint: The monastery's founder, St. Leibowitz, becomes the patron saint of electricians once the world has them again. There is also a reference to Saint Raul the Cyclopean, patron of the misborn.* PersecutedIntellectuals: Part of the aftermath of global nuclear war. After the enraged survivors slaughter the scientists who developed the bombs, they begin to target other scientists...and then other scholars...and then anyone with a formal education...and finally, anyone who could ''read.'' The result is a society where it's dangerous to admit that you know how to read and ultimately, the collapse of society itself.* PosthumousCharacter: Saint Leibowitz, though just how posthumous he really is is up for debate.* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: The nomadic chief.* RagnarokProofing: Bits and pieces of the pre-Deluge world become increasingly rare as time passes. Even in ''Fiat Homo,'' it's stated that many of the ruins were picked by scavengers long before. It's also mentioned, however, that a group of monks stumbled on a relatively intact nuclear missile facility hidden beneath a village [[spoiler:which they accidentally detonate]].* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Pope Leo XXI.* TheRemnant: The Catholic Church is a surviving constant from the pre-Deluge world.* SaintlyChurch: The Catholic Church is portrayed both realistically and sympathetically.* ScavengerWorld: At least initially. * ScienceIsBad: ** One of the chief conflicts of the story is how to use the knowledge gained from civilization's renaissance properly. Science and knowledge in general in itself is not bad, but people's applications of it can be.** In-universe, it's this sort of attitude that led to the Simplification immediately after the Flame Deluge. People blamed the scientists and intellectuals for the war and started lynching them ''en masse''.* ShoutOut: the fourth-season finale for ''Babylon5'' (filmed when it was confirmed there would be a fifth season) hints at the future of humanity and how the legends of the show's heroes would endure. The third part occurs after a planetary civil war, where a monastery secretly run by The Rangers is attempting to re-introduce technology. [=JMS=] realized [[http://www.midwinter.com/lurk/guide/088.html#JS halfway through writing the script]] that he was "channeling ''Canticle''" but left it in as a homage. * StandardSciFiHistory: Subverted. Although humanity does recover from World War III and rebuilds civilization, history ends up repeating itself. This differentiates the book from other works at the time, which tended to treat history as linear instead of cyclical.** This also to a degree defines the conflict between Thon Taddeo and the presiding Abbot in ''Fiat Lux.''* TechnologyMarchesOn: ** At one point, Abbot Zerchi turns off a television with such anger that he breaks the knob off. Possibly justified in that this occurs almost 1800 years in the future, after technology has re-emerged. ** Anti-ballistic missile systems started emerging in the 1970s, more than a decade after publication. The Asian Coalition would have to be very sneaky or very lucky to [[spoiler:surprise-nuke Texarkana]] if anything like NORAD was re-emerged. On the flip side, even today low-altitude cruise missiles are tough to detect and neutralize.* TheSpymaster: The Vatican Diplomatic Service has gained notoriety, to say the least. * TorchesAndPitchforks: The Simplification, where most technology and knowledge was actively destroyed in a backlash against technology after the nuclear war.* TranslationConvention: The language the characters speak is not actually English, but a distant descendant of it which is translated for the reader. See EternalEnglish.* TranslatorMicrobes: A large device in Abbot Zirchi's office. It kind-of works.* WalkingTheEarth: The Old Jew takes to wandering at times.* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The fate of Benjamin (and his true nature) is left unclear, as is that of Rachel.* WideEyedIdealist: Brother Francis is honest, sincere, and hopeful, though he does take the basic honesty and decency of others for granted. This latter fact [[spoiler:ultimately gets him killed on his trip back from New Rome]].----